Pakbungloyfah on 2nd Road

[Evil Penevil]

 

Pakbungloyfah is an excellent but inexpensive Thai seafood and sizzling platter restaurant on 2nd Road.

It's located between Sois 13/3 and 13/4 and is directly across the street from the intersection of 2nd Road and Soi 15. It's open between 4 p.m. and 4 a.m. seven days a week.

 

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With a name like Pakbungloyfah, you know it's not catering to hordes of Pattaya farang tourists.

 

 

Thais, including families with children, are its dominant customer group.

 

 

During the late afternoon and early evening, it's virtually all Thais except for an occasional farang in the street-facing section of the restaurant. The later it gets, the more farang you see there, especially after the bars shut down and farang-Thai couples are having a very late meal.

 

 

 

Pakbungloyfah translates roughly as "flying greens" or "flying vegetable." Pak bung is the Thai word for the vegetable called morning glory, water spinach and even swamp cabbage in English. The flying part comes from the way the greens are tossed in a wok to extinguish flames. An extremely high heat is used to fry the greens, resulting in them catching fire. This is different from the Western cooking technique called flambe, in which a small amount of alcohol is added to a dish that quickly burns off.

 

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I'll review the individual dishes and meals under each pic. All were characterized by fresh ingredients and the complexity of flavor that is the hallmark of Thai cuisine. Pakbungloyfah is a good place to enjoy Thai cuisine that hasn't made any compromises to please the palate of Joe Sixpack.

 

Last night, my companion and I had fried mussels with basil and chili on a sizzling plate, a very tasty dish with complex flavors.

 

 

Morning glory with egg-battered tofu. Unfortunately, you don't get to see it flaming and tossed.

 

 

 

Fried sea bass. It came with a small dish of a very spicy salad-type accompaniment that certainly livened up the fish!

 

 

 

Grilled river prawns, fresh and full-flavored.

 

 

 

My companion drank a watermelon shake and water and I had San Miguel Light.

 

 

The food part of the bill came to 1,200 baht, with the river prawns the most expensive item.

 

When eating solo, I've had lighter meals that were also very good. All were characterized by fresh ingredients and the complexity of flavor that is the hallmark of Thai cuisine.

 

Spring rolls Thai style, fried to just the right degree of crispiness.

 

 

 

Fried pork with a citrus dipping sauce. The two dishes total 180 baht.

 

 

 

 

Pork fried with sesame seeds at 80 baht.

 

 

 

 

Sweet and sour duck on a sizzling platter.

 

 

That's real sweet and sour! The few chunks of fresh pineapple had a complex savory taste, as though they had been part of a marinade.

 

 

 

It was light years away from the overwhelming sweetness of canned pineapple chunks that you get in a lot of sweet and sour dishes in the West.

 

 

I found the signs on the corkage charges to be revealing. I've never before seen a corkage charge for a can, which leads me to believe a lot of Cheap Charlies try to bring their own beverages from 7-11. I doubt too many bottles of wine are uncorked at Pakbungloyfah, but I can just imagine the table talk: "It's a great vintage- April."

 

 

 

I guess the CCs don't want to pay for the packaged cold wipes either. The ones I've gotten have always been complimentary.

 

 

The rest of the photos help to give a better idea of what Pakbungloyfah is all about, namely good food.

Bottom line:  I'll be back- and that's the highest accolade a restaurant can earn.

 

Evil

 

 

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[robert69]

have to go there one day. food looks great

[Mick Pattaya]

The food certainly looks delicious, looks like the same kind of set up like the shark fin restaurant on second road, if I recall correctly its pretty close to it as well.

[One hung low]

My gal lives directly across the road from this place. She says there are 3 of these restaurants in pattaya.

We eat at the one on the corner of third road and soi chayapoun . Again, very good and reasonable.

Our bill is always in the $450-500 baht range for the 2 of us including 2 drinks. Instead of white rice, we always have fried rice with prawn, and 3 dishes. Very reasonable.

I have taken a few friends there and they now make it their many times .

Thanks evil.

[Yahooka]

I`ve going there frequently since I live close by.Very nice food as your pics describe !!

[xdrt33]

My gal lives directly across the road from this place. She says there are 3 of these restaurants in pattaya.

We eat at the one on the corner of third road and soi chayapoun .

 

Thanks for that info. Much handier for those of us who stay in the LK Metro area. Will give it a try.

 

Good review as usual, Mr Evil.

[One hung low]

Thanks for that info. Much handier for those of us who stay in the LK Metro area. Will give it a try.

 

Good review as usual, Mr Evil.

yes I stay in the LK Metro area and that's why I eat there. Great place.

[Evil Penevil]

An update after another meal at Pakbungloyfah.

My companion started off her meal with her favorite appetizer, raw oysters.

 

 

I admired an appetizer, but didn't partake just then.

 

We began with lab talay, or herbed seafood salad. It was very fresh and delicately flavored, no heat at all.

 

 

The main course was spareribs on a sizzling platter:

 

 

 

We also had pak bung:

 

 

Low season is also affecting even venerable Thai restaurants. There were very few other customs at 6.30 p.m.

 

Our meal, excluding drinks, was 600 baht. The restaurant also has value-for-money sets for both seafood and shabu-shabu meals.

 

Evil
 

[33 Cannon]

I would still like someone explain to me exactly WHY seafood is always disproportionately expensive in Thailand.

[One hung low]

I would still like someone explain to me exactly WHY seafood is always disproportionately expensive in Thailand.

never quite understood this myself, throughout Asia it is quite dear.

[enzoae]

Thanks for another option to satisfying our stomachs, and that pic of your dinner guest sure satisfied everything else!   

[Evil Penevil]

Another update from a couple of days ago.  I decided to try the duck soup with rice noodles for 60 baht.  The waiter's reaction was a bit surprising when I ordered it.  He appeared dumbfounded for a full minute, then said in a voice full of incredulity:

"But YOU not Cheap Charlie!"

 

 

It certainly wasn't a microscopic portion.  The broth was very rich and full of flavor.  There was quite a bit of meat, but you don't really order duck soup for the meat.  It's the broth that is important and this bowl ticked all the boxes in terms of ingredients and seasoning.

 

 

I then had the pork spareribs with pineapple (200 baht).  

 

 

 

Very tasty and a good balance between the slightly salty sauce and sweetness of the pineapple.

 

 

 

The flavors all blended well.

 

 

My friend and his companion had a spicy shrimp salad for 130 baht:

 

 

 

stir-fried morning glory at 90 baht

 

 

and two different chicken dishes with rice.  One cost 45 baht, the other 55 baht

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was all very good and very moderately priced.  It's not a fancy place, but a excellent choice if you enjoy Thai food.

 

Evil

 

[duke main]

Quality food porn! Thanks Pen.

[One hung low]

Please stop evil, oh the memories, can't get there till Christmas.

[MSR]

Please stop evil, oh the memories, can't get there till Christmas.

[elcaballero7]

Thanks for the great review/suggestion, went here with the wife. Very extensive menu and priced well for pattaya. We had the steamed crab, lobster, grilled river prawn, tom tad (big som tam), rice x2, and soft drinks. I think the price was 1600+- the only thing I didn't like was that they charge for ice. I don't mind paying for a bucket of ice, but they charge per cup of ice?!

[comets1]

Try the one on Pattaya klang, just before Big C

Food is always great and good place to sit, i have tried all three and much prefer location of this one.

[tropicaloz]

Just a quick bump for this excellent thread by Evil Penevil,

 

(sorry didn't take any photos)

 

I ate here this evening, had a terrific meal although fairly basic as it was late and I wasn't too hungry.

 

I ordered the Som Tam Thai and a small dish of fried pork with a bottle of water.

 

The meal was very tasty, service was quick and efficient, BUT,

 

A word of warning to check the bill when it arrives, (hard to do as it is in Thai script), I just counted the items that were charged as it seemed more expensive than what I read in the Menu.

 

I ordered 3 items and there were charges for 7 individual items, I didn't know what they were so I asked the waitress, who studied the plates on the table and quickly reduced the bill by about 250 Bt.

 

It may well have been an innocent mistake, and it is not a huge amount of money, but it may be something to keep an eye on.

 

i will return there though, the food is really good.

[mr21]

Reading this thread again and I am salivating....the food just looks so much better than the processed, plastic shit most restaurants serve here in the states.

[Taa_Saparot]

Pakbungloyfah is an excellent but inexpensive Thai seafood and sizzling platter restaurant on 2nd Road.

 

Worth noting, that there is other branches of this chain restaurant, on Pattaya Glang, and the corner of 3rd Road and LengKee.

 

Have always found the food very average, and don't expect the metal tables and plastic chairs experience, for what you are paying.

 

IMO.

[Evil Penevil]

 

Have always found the food very average, and don't expect the metal tables and plastic chairs experience, for what you are paying.

 

 

Can you explain:

 

1) what is the "metal tables and plastic chairs experience" and how it relates to price;

 

2) how it differs from the metal tables and metal chairs experience  (since Pakbungloyfah uses metal chairs); and

 

3) what any of this has to do with the food served in a Pattaya restaurant.

 

Evil